Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 11 · 2026-09-14

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The take below gives information about the underground railway systems in six cities.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Underground Railway Systems

City	Date opened	Kilometers of route	Passengers per year (in millions)
London	1863	394	775
Paris	1900	199	1191
Tokyo	1927	155	1927
Washington DC	1976	126	144
Kyoto	1981	11	45
Los Angeles	2001	28	50

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The table below illustrates data about the underground railway systems in London, Paris, Tokyo, Washington, kyoko and los Angeles.

Overall, it is clear that, london have largest underground railway system and the number of passengers are higher in paris railway systems per year while the railway system of tokyo is small with low amount of passnegers.

In 1863, the 394 kilometers underground railway system established in london and it have 775 million passengers per year while the 199 km railways system of paris built in 1900 and the average of passengers per year is 1191 million.

Washington Dc have 126 km railway system opened in 1976 with the 144 million passengers per year. Furthermore, built in 1927, tokyo railway track is 155 kilometers with 1927 million passengers per year.

In the end, kyoko in 1981 and los angeles in 2001 have very little railway track 11 kilometers and 28 kilometers respectively but they have same passengers amount nearly 50 million per year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response — Band 5.5

The response covers all parts of the task by presenting data for all six cities across the four categories of date opened, route length, and passenger numbers. Key features and comparisons are attempted, such as noting that London has the largest underground network and Tokyo has a massive passenger volume despite a smaller track length. However, there are some factual inaccuracies in the overview and body paragraphs; for example, the student states that London has the 'largest underground railway system' and that Tokyo is 'small with low amount of passengers', whereas Tokyo actually records the highest annual passenger volume at 1,927 million, making this claim contradictory. Additionally, the student misinterprets Tokyo's route length and passenger figures. Because of these data misinterpretations and over-generalizations, the response achieves a Band 5.5.

Coherence and Cohesion — Band 5.5

The report has a discernible overall structure, beginning with an introductory sentence, followed by an overview paragraph, and then breaking down the data into body paragraphs. Paragraphing is attempted, though the division of details is somewhat disjointed. Cohesive devices are used, but they are often basic or repetitive, such as 'In 1863', 'Furthermore', and 'In the end'. Referencing is occasionally unclear, and logical progression suffers due to abrupt transitions between sentences and cities. For example, moving from Washington DC and Tokyo into a concluding paragraph that groups Kyoto and Los Angeles creates a slightly unbalanced structure. Overall cohesion is mechanical, earning this criterion a Band 5.5.

Lexical Resource — Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is generally adequate to describe the data, employing terms like 'underground railway systems', 'kilometers of route', and 'passengers per year'. However, the range is limited and repetitive. There are numerous word choice and spelling errors throughout the text, such as lowercase city names ('london', 'paris', 'tokyo', 'kyoko', 'los Angeles') and spelling mistakes like 'passnegers' and 'kyoko' instead of Kyoto. The student attempts some less common vocabulary, but inaccurate collocations and incorrect forms, such as 'low amount of passnegers' instead of 'number of passengers', restrict the lexical score to a Band 5.0.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy — Band 5.0

The student uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, attempting relative clauses and participial phrases (e.g., 'built in 1927, tokyo railway track is...'). However, grammatical accuracy is weak, with frequent errors in verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions. Examples include 'london have largest' instead of 'London has the largest', 'the number of passengers are higher' instead of 'is higher', and 'established in london and it have' instead of 'was established... and had'. Punctuation and capitalization are also problematic, as proper nouns are frequently not capitalized. These persistent errors can cause some difficulty for the reader, placing this criterion at a Band 5.0.

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